A TE from the the Nittany Lions 86 Nat’l Champs (87 Fiesta Bowl Miami) just
came in my service center. (Timothy)
Bruno said Penn State was a family "because the white players let the black players eat at the training table once a week."
Greatest Penn State Upsets of All Time - The 1987 Fiesta Bowl
ByBSD@mhubbellon Sep 9, 2010, 3:30p82
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One would be hard pressed to point to a game that featured two teams that were more polar opposites of each other.
On one team the players came from some of the toughest neighborhoods of the inner cities of south Florida. The players on the other team came mostly from the blue collar mining towns of western Pennsylvania.
One team had a flashy All-American quarterback that won the Heisman and Maxwell Awards. He led a flashy offense that averaged nearly 40 points per game and showed little mercy in running up the score. The other team featured a grind-it-out rushing offense that scored just enough points to get by. Their quarterback didn't have an impressive arm or eye popping stats. Even his name was boring.
One team had a legendary coach whose respect for opponents won him the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award. He believed in the principles of loyalty, honor, and discipline. The other team had a coach that let his players run wild doing whatever they wanted to do. He saw no need for respecting his opponent, mockingly referring to his counterpart on the other team as "St. Joe."
The 1986Miami Hurricaneswere the most dominant team in college football. Their roster was full of players like Vinnie Testaverde, Michael Irvin, Alonzo Highsmith, Jerome Brown, Brett Perriman, Brian Blades, and Benny Blades who would go on to play in the NFL. They stormed through their schedule like, well, a hurricane obliterating everything in their path. They averaged 38 points per game while only giving up 12.
The Penn State Nittany Lions were a workman-like team. They won ugly with solid defense and a ball-control offense. They barely got past teams like Maryland, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame that all had losing records leading many people to question if they were a worthy opponent for the mighty Hurricanes. As soon as the matchup was announced for the Fiesta Bowl, the betting opened in Vegas with Penn State being listed as a seven point underdog. So confident was Miami of their impending victory, that clothing apparel stores in Miami were selling "Miami Hurricanes 1986 National Champions" T-shirts before the game.
When the Miami players arrived in Tempe they shocked everyone by getting off the plane dressed in combat fatigues. When asked about it, team leader Jerome Brown said, "This is war." Head coachJimmy Johnsontold the Phoenix Gazette, "That was a great idea. I wish I had thought of it."
Once on the ground in Tempe, the Miami players quickly became disgusted with what they saw. Penn State fans were everywhere. Not only that, but it seemed like the locals were even pulling for the Nittany Lions. Not surprising considering it was Penn State's fourth appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State fans were regulars in Tempe and had made quite a favorable impression on the locals. On the flip side, Miami was a small private school without a large alumni following. Most of their fans lived in the low income inner city and didn't have the money to travel across the country to Arizona to see their team play. So there weren't many Miami fans to cheer them on.
All week long the Miami players hated everything about being in Arizona. They hated dealing with stupid questions from the press about their attitudes. They hated Jimmy Johnson's regimented practice schedule sarcastically calling their coach "the Grinch that stole Christmas." They hated being compared to the Penn State choir boys.In one interview Brown said,
"I know a couple guys on (Penn State) are as crazy as I am. It's just a big front, that Penn State is clean cut. When it's time to get down, they get in the dirt. They hit late, we hit late. Of course, we may hit a little later."
Everything came to a head at the joint team dinner the night before the game. For entertainment, the players were allowed to spend the day walking around an Old Western Theme park. Then they were treated to an old west steak fry for their pregame meal. For Hurricane players that grew up in the poorest projects of south Florida, it couldn't be more corny, and by corny, I mean white.
As part of the entertainment for the evening, the teams were asked to come up with little skits to amuse the crowd. The Penn State players, dressed in coats and ties, went first and proceeded to make fun of Jimmy Johnson's hair and the boorish behavior of the Miami players over the past few days. Then Penn State punter John Bruno insulted the Miami players when he made aself deprecating racial joke.
Bruno said Penn State was a family "because the white players let the black players eat at the training table once a week."
When it was Miami's turn to take the stage, Brown ripped off his jumpsuit (the choice of attire for the Miami players that night) exposing his combat fatigues underneath. He grabbed the microphone famously saying,
"Did the Japanese have dinner at Pearl Harbor before they bombed them? Let's go."
And with that, the Miami players stood up and took off their jump suits exposing their fatigues. Then they walked out of the room to the team bus. As the assembled crowd sat in stunned silence, Bruno reached for a microphone and asked, "Excuse me, but didn't the Japanese lose the war?"
Bruno had dropped a bomb of his own that brought down the house. The incident made the national news (the fatigues...but not the racial joke), and from that point on nobody was talking about a football game any more. This was a battle between David and Goliath. It was a competition between class and crass. It was a fight between good and evil. Everyone in America was firmly cheering for Penn State.
By the time the game finally arrived, both teams had had about enough of each other. Joe Paterno gave his players strict orders not to talk back to the Miami players, provoke them, or respond to their verbal or physical assaults in any way. The Miami players, on the other hand, did everything they could to taunt their opponent and get in their heads. During pregame the Hurricanes jogged through Penn State's warmup formations and tried to engage them in verbal confrontations, but the Penn State players listened to their coach and wouldn't have any of it.
came in my service center. (Timothy)
Bruno said Penn State was a family "because the white players let the black players eat at the training table once a week."
Greatest Penn State Upsets of All Time - The 1987 Fiesta Bowl
ByBSD@mhubbellon Sep 9, 2010, 3:30p82
TWEET(8)SHARE(47)PIN
One would be hard pressed to point to a game that featured two teams that were more polar opposites of each other.
On one team the players came from some of the toughest neighborhoods of the inner cities of south Florida. The players on the other team came mostly from the blue collar mining towns of western Pennsylvania.
One team had a flashy All-American quarterback that won the Heisman and Maxwell Awards. He led a flashy offense that averaged nearly 40 points per game and showed little mercy in running up the score. The other team featured a grind-it-out rushing offense that scored just enough points to get by. Their quarterback didn't have an impressive arm or eye popping stats. Even his name was boring.
One team had a legendary coach whose respect for opponents won him the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year Award. He believed in the principles of loyalty, honor, and discipline. The other team had a coach that let his players run wild doing whatever they wanted to do. He saw no need for respecting his opponent, mockingly referring to his counterpart on the other team as "St. Joe."
The 1986Miami Hurricaneswere the most dominant team in college football. Their roster was full of players like Vinnie Testaverde, Michael Irvin, Alonzo Highsmith, Jerome Brown, Brett Perriman, Brian Blades, and Benny Blades who would go on to play in the NFL. They stormed through their schedule like, well, a hurricane obliterating everything in their path. They averaged 38 points per game while only giving up 12.
The Penn State Nittany Lions were a workman-like team. They won ugly with solid defense and a ball-control offense. They barely got past teams like Maryland, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame that all had losing records leading many people to question if they were a worthy opponent for the mighty Hurricanes. As soon as the matchup was announced for the Fiesta Bowl, the betting opened in Vegas with Penn State being listed as a seven point underdog. So confident was Miami of their impending victory, that clothing apparel stores in Miami were selling "Miami Hurricanes 1986 National Champions" T-shirts before the game.
When the Miami players arrived in Tempe they shocked everyone by getting off the plane dressed in combat fatigues. When asked about it, team leader Jerome Brown said, "This is war." Head coachJimmy Johnsontold the Phoenix Gazette, "That was a great idea. I wish I had thought of it."
Once on the ground in Tempe, the Miami players quickly became disgusted with what they saw. Penn State fans were everywhere. Not only that, but it seemed like the locals were even pulling for the Nittany Lions. Not surprising considering it was Penn State's fourth appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State fans were regulars in Tempe and had made quite a favorable impression on the locals. On the flip side, Miami was a small private school without a large alumni following. Most of their fans lived in the low income inner city and didn't have the money to travel across the country to Arizona to see their team play. So there weren't many Miami fans to cheer them on.
All week long the Miami players hated everything about being in Arizona. They hated dealing with stupid questions from the press about their attitudes. They hated Jimmy Johnson's regimented practice schedule sarcastically calling their coach "the Grinch that stole Christmas." They hated being compared to the Penn State choir boys.In one interview Brown said,
"I know a couple guys on (Penn State) are as crazy as I am. It's just a big front, that Penn State is clean cut. When it's time to get down, they get in the dirt. They hit late, we hit late. Of course, we may hit a little later."
Everything came to a head at the joint team dinner the night before the game. For entertainment, the players were allowed to spend the day walking around an Old Western Theme park. Then they were treated to an old west steak fry for their pregame meal. For Hurricane players that grew up in the poorest projects of south Florida, it couldn't be more corny, and by corny, I mean white.
As part of the entertainment for the evening, the teams were asked to come up with little skits to amuse the crowd. The Penn State players, dressed in coats and ties, went first and proceeded to make fun of Jimmy Johnson's hair and the boorish behavior of the Miami players over the past few days. Then Penn State punter John Bruno insulted the Miami players when he made aself deprecating racial joke.
Bruno said Penn State was a family "because the white players let the black players eat at the training table once a week."
When it was Miami's turn to take the stage, Brown ripped off his jumpsuit (the choice of attire for the Miami players that night) exposing his combat fatigues underneath. He grabbed the microphone famously saying,
"Did the Japanese have dinner at Pearl Harbor before they bombed them? Let's go."
And with that, the Miami players stood up and took off their jump suits exposing their fatigues. Then they walked out of the room to the team bus. As the assembled crowd sat in stunned silence, Bruno reached for a microphone and asked, "Excuse me, but didn't the Japanese lose the war?"
Bruno had dropped a bomb of his own that brought down the house. The incident made the national news (the fatigues...but not the racial joke), and from that point on nobody was talking about a football game any more. This was a battle between David and Goliath. It was a competition between class and crass. It was a fight between good and evil. Everyone in America was firmly cheering for Penn State.
By the time the game finally arrived, both teams had had about enough of each other. Joe Paterno gave his players strict orders not to talk back to the Miami players, provoke them, or respond to their verbal or physical assaults in any way. The Miami players, on the other hand, did everything they could to taunt their opponent and get in their heads. During pregame the Hurricanes jogged through Penn State's warmup formations and tried to engage them in verbal confrontations, but the Penn State players listened to their coach and wouldn't have any of it.
